New York Times #1 Bestseller

STACY’S REQUEST
A short story

Written by Perets Arnaud

© October 2022
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Stacy’s Request

June 14th, 1982, Austin, Texas. Stacy just completed her final exams at

Richmond College, Austin, north of Texas. The final subject she wrote was Chemistry,

her favorite. Done with the exams, she sits in the school garden to wait for her friends

to hurry up and finish too, so they can share some final moments together before each

of them parted to enjoy the long-awaited holidays. Among her closest friends in school

was Candice; who was her neighbor in town and the one who shared all her childhood

memories since she moved with her parents from Minnesota to Texas seven years

ago. Today both Stacy and Candice are ten years old, and ready to begin the 12 th

grade next academic year, having achieved top grades in all subjects at school and

receiving many honors from the college. Stacy was first, Candice second, and then

came Joanna, Lizzy and Gloria. All five of them were the toppers of their class, and

always studied, walked, played and laughed together.

Stacy and Candice at the school park

The sun finally set in Austin at the Chandlers family. Upon ringing the bell,

Stacy’s mom, Rosie Chandlers, opened the door and found her daughter waiting to

get in, almost half-dressed, exhausted from the day. The golden sun dawning on her

blond hair, milk face and green eyes, together with the fact that Stacy wore a white

shirt and light-green skirt (since she had taken out her tie and jacket already) made

Rosie first think an angel was standing at her door at first sight, until she heard the
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voice of her daughter - a voice as light as a bird chirping in its net at dawn.

“The year’s over!” shouted Stacy in joy.

“Yes, congrats honey, come in.” Rosie replied.

At that, Grandma and Grandpa, who were hiding in the hallway, came out and

greeted their granddaughter, who was already super excited to meet them. Stacy

hadn’t seen her grandparents since they moved from Minnesota seven years ago.

They stayed in their mansion there to take care of the farms and the family company

which dealt in the production of wheat, flour and barley.

“I’ve got a surprise for you sweetie.” said Grandma Ruth to Stacy. “You

remember what you ask for last week over the phone?”

“I ask for a lot of things Oma”, Stacy replied.

Ruth quickly brought out a yellow basket to her granddaughter and said “Open

it. It’s all yours.” Stacy, excited and surprised of what it could be, opened the basket,

and there was a little kitten, about five months old, with orange fur and big, innocent

dark eyes.

“Oh thank you Oma!” , exclaimed Stacy, who finally remembered she told her

grandma by phone last week that she would love to have a pet because she as feeling

very lonely at home and didn’t really have someone to talk to apart from her mother

who was very occupied. Stacy had two brothers. Her elder brother, John, twenty years

old, was serving at the U.S Navy in Nevada, while her younger brother, Carlos, was

still in kindergarten. Her mom was three months-pregnant of a baby girl though,

according to an echography made at Austin’s Memorial Hospital a few months ago.

Stacy was right; with her elder brother off for duties and her one-year old younger

brother who doesn’t understand English yet, she got very bored sometimes at home,
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if not for her best friend Candice who came home very often and even shared dinner

at their table. Stacy’s dad, Richard Chandlers, worked at Amazon as Director in the

Sales Department and usually came home very late at night. The only free time he had

was usually during the weekends.

“Oma?” asked Stacy to her grandmother, “Can I come to Minnesota for my

birthday?”

“Sure, only ask your mum.” Ruth replied.

Stacy was well advanced for her age; she was a true genius. In all ten subjects

she took at school this year, she scored nine A grades out of ten, having B plus in Latin

only. She could communicate very well and speak out her mind in a free, conscious

and polite manner to everyone, great and small alike.

Without saying a word, Rosie agreed to the Stacy’s request. Her daughter’s

birthday was in one month time and since she too wanted to visit their mansion in

Minnesota, she couldn’t help but agree. Richard, upon arrival from work that day was

informed of Stacy’s request and also accepted, in part due to the fact that he told his

daughter he would give her anything she wanted for her birthday if she came out first

of her class, which she did. So he took permission at his job side and booked flights

for Minnesota for the following week.

Austin’s International Airport

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Stacy spent almost all her days with Garry, the name she chose to give her cat.

On the streets, in the parks and even for shopping with her mum, Garry almost never

leaved Stacy’s side. At two weeks to Stacy’s birthday, the Chandlers family headed

for Austin’s International Airport and landed in Minnesota a few hours later. Upon

arrivingat their mansion, Rosie unpacked the luggage home.

The Chandlers mansion in Minnesota

“Where’s Garry?” Stacy asked her mother.

“In the luggage. I’ll check it for you.” Rosie responded. Everyone stopped

moving. All eyes were fixed on Rosie as she checked for the little kitten in the luggage.

Stacy started feeling worried, hoping they didn’t leave the cat in Texas.

“Garry’s not here honey.” Rosie responded. “Where did you keep it?”

At this, Stacy’s eyes began to flood with tears, her heart beat increased and she

started getting very nervous. “Gaaaaarrryyyyyy…..Where are yyyyyoooouuuu?” yelled

Stacy mournfully as she searched for her pet, tossing all the bags around. And from

that moment on till the rest of the day, she refused to eat, constantly mourning the loss

of her pet.

“She won’t be happy even at her birthday if we don’t find the cat.” Richard

whispered to his wife, “What should we do?”

“Let’s go back and search for Garry at the airport in Texas”, replied Rosie to her
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husband. “Hopefully we’ll be back before her birthday party with her cat. Let’s hire

some workers from the factory to go along with us.”

“Good idea.” replied Richard to his wife.

“Hi honey, don’t worry okay, your mum and I are going to find your cat, Kary”,

Richard comforted his daughter.

“It’s Garry dad, Garry, not Kary!” yelled Stacy at her father in a blend of anger

and sorrow.

“Garry, yes, Garry. Sorry honey. We’ll be right back.” Richard replied to his

daughter. And that’s how the quest for Garry began.

Even as much as humans can communicate with one another in their language,

animals can also communicate with one another. It has also been proven that animals

can understand humans in what they say and obey them. Garry, opening its eyes at

the airport, found itself in a room filled with bags, suitcases and boxes. “Where am I?”

asked the poor cat to itself. The security agents of the airport carried the cat from its

basket at placed it in the compartment of lost items at the airport. Garry could notice a

window very high up the wall and confirmed it to itself as its only way of escape. So

using its little nails, it forced its way to the window and escaped to the open fields of

Texas, alone and hungry.

In Minnesota, all of Stacy’s grandparents’ efforts to make her smile were

fruitless. One week to her birthday, Stacy sprayed the perfume of sadness at home,

spending all her time thinking of her pet all day long, looking at the wheat fields through

the window. Time was against them.

Little Garry, in the wild, met even wilder cats on its way. “Hello friends, did you

notice a pretty girl with blond hair carrying me all around here at the airport?” he asked
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them.

“Yeah, but she left already.” the cats responded. “We saw you with her at the

parking lot today.”

Homeless ginger Garry in the streets of Austin, Texas

At this, Garry’s only hope was to find its way to their home in Austin, and luckily

enough, the Chandlers family lived less than a mile away. Fortunately too, Stacy had

been taking her pet for tours in the city, and having a retentive memory soaked in the

love of its mistress, all Garry had to do was to recall the road that leads to home. It had

to pass through four streets and three junctions from the airport to home, in a city filled

with about a million inhabitants. Just having gone through a street that a young boy

carried the kitten up and, noticing it was alone and had no label to it, decided to keep

it for himself. So the tender kitten was keep tight to its new master, which it didn’t like

very much, especially because of his bad mouth smell. In its mind Garry just wanted

to slip away at the slightest opportunity. Luckily enough for it, the chance came. The

young boy wanted ice cream and went to the grocery store nearby to get one, keeping

the cat in his bag. Using its nails, Garry opened the yellow bag and escaped from its

tormentor, running as fast as it could without ever wanting to be caught by anyone

again. Once free and after running a considerable distance, escaping the bumping legs

of human giants, it refuged itself in a close street nearby beside trash cans, where it

also sought for its food. But the area was guarded by bulldogs who noticed the little

creature tear up all their meat and fish.

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Three more days to Stacy’s eleventh birthday. Even though everyone in

Minnesota tried to keep a happy mood, Stacy’s mood dictated the order. Her parents,

upon reaching the airport in Texas, were directed to the compartment of lost items by

the security agents, and after a little search could easily recognize Garry’s basket,

because its yellow color was very conspicuous since most of the other items were dark

in color. After looking through again, more seriously this time, they couldn’t find the cat,

and rightly assumed it had slipped through the window above. All hope was lost. They

didn’t know how to share the news with their daughter, knowing that she would only

feel worse. And they also couldn’t buy a new pet for her, knowing full well that the

affection Stacy had for her pet was unique. So, with no other option left, they slowly

returned Minnesota. Suddenly, Rosie’s phone rings. It’s Candice Graham.

“Hello Candice” said Rosie to Stacy’s best friend.

“Good morning Miss Chandlers”, replied Candice. “I found a cat with orange

fur this morning in our compound and after looking well at it, I realized it was Garry,

Stacy’s cat. It was running away from bulldogs who were trying to harm it. I chased

the dogs away and carried it to your home Ma’am. I gave Garry to the housemaid.

You can askher to confirm.”

Miss Rosie Chandlers, Stacy’s mum

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Stacy’s parents were overjoyed. “Thank you very much Candice”, Rosie replied

to her in a low voice yet with a heart screaming from within like the drums being played

at the Carnaval festival in Rio de Janeiro. “You’re an angel. We’ll get back to you.

Please I hope you haven’t told Stacy yet.”

“No Ma’am” Candice replied.

“Good. We keep in touch Candice. Have a nice day.” Rosie concluded.

The Chandlers couple rushed home and found the orange-furred cat playing

on the carpet with the housemaid as she fed it, exactly as Candice said. Without a

waste to time, and wanting to make the surprise to their daughter, also taking into

account the fact that Stacy’s birthday was the next day, the couple decided to take

the next flight to Minnesota right away, carrying Garry along with them. It was getting

dark already.

One day left for Stacy’s birthday. All hope seemed to be lost already. Stacy cried

even more at the thought of turning eleven without Garry. That night she couldn’t sleep.

All the sweet memories she spent with her pet were the main instances of her dream.

In the morning, the rooster crowed three hours ago but Stacy was still in bed at 9 am.

Oma finally took off the blanket that was covering her and saw the bed all wet,

assuming she had peed throughout the night, not knowing that her tears were the origin

of the incident. Stacy’s eyes were as red and swollen as a tomato fruit in full blossom.

“Oh darling” Ruth started again, “don’t worry, I’ll get you a new c-”

“No!” Stacy interrupted in a mournful yet angry exclamation. “It won’t be my

Garry anymore.” And she resumed her cycle of mourning.

At this point, Grandma Ruth’s heart was broken and she really felt the pain her

granddaughter was going through. Nothing could be done. Even if Mr. and Mrs.
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Chandlers came home with the cat tomorrow, the birthday would have passed and

their efforts would have been cancelled. It was today or never. The birthday cake was

bakedalready.

Ruth, consoling her granddaughter

Then, just as in a daydream, the bell rang. Opa rushed to open the door. Then

there was a silence because Rosie motioned him by a finger to stay quiet and let Stacy

be the first to be amazed. In the room, Stacy asked her grandmother “What’s going on

Oma?”

“I don’t know darling” Ruth replied.

Then, just as Stacy was straining her eyes to see who was coming in the

hallway, there came creeping in, slowly but surely, the same big, dark and innocent

eyes of her orange-furred cat she knew very well. It was Garry. Stacy was overjoyed

beyond words.

“You found it!” Stacy said to her parents, who by this time were in the room

already.

Rosie looked at her husband in the eyes as both of them smiled at each other

without saying a word to one another. Then she said to her daughter “Yes, Stacy, we

found it. God helped us to find Garry. Happy birthday sweetie.”

And what could have been Stacy’s worse birthday turned out to be her best

birthday in the blink of an eye, in the fraction of a second. All of Oma’s and Opa’s

neighbors were invited to celebrate the double occasion. From then on, Candice was
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always welcome to the Chandlers family and was treated as Stacy’s own sister.

Rosiealso attached a label to Garry around its neck in case a similar incident was to

occur in the future. The family went out more often to greet neighbors, and Garry

always followed its beloved mistress wherever she went. Stacy’s holidays were

brightened from that day on; her smile was always on her face.

Stacy finally reunites with her pet again

The End